At Least 12 Martyred, Scores Wounded in US Missile Strikes on Southern Iran

TEHRAN: At least 12 people have been martyred and scores more wounded after US forces carried out missile strikes against multiple locations in southern Iran on Tuesday night, according to Iranian authorities.

Seven people were martyred and eight others wounded in strikes on three locations near the cities of Ahvaz and Aghajari in Khuzestan province.

Separate attacks in southern Hormozgan province left at least five people martyred and 68 others wounded after a strike hit a residential building where a wedding celebration was taking place.

The incident, which reportedly killed a child among the wedding guests, has intensified concerns over the civilian toll of the escalating conflict.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said American forces had carried out strikes against targets it identified as belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

Washington linked the attacks to what it described as recent Iranian actions against commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and US military forces operating in the region.

Iran, however, has condemned the strikes as aggression and accused the United States of targeting areas beyond legitimate military objectives.

Lieutenant Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said Iran’s Armed Forces responded with coordinated missile and drone attacks against US military positions across the region.

Zolfaghari said the Iranian strikes caused extensive damage to infrastructure, facilities, weapons and military equipment at the targeted bases and resulted in significant American casualties.

“These offensive operations against the Americans will continue to teach them a lesson until they regret their acts of aggression,” he said.

The reported retaliatory operations represent another escalation in the widening confrontation between Tehran and Washington.

The latest developments follow a US strike on Iran’s Larak Island on Sunday night.

Following the attack, the IRGC announced a retaliatory operation targeting US positions in Jordan.

Khuzestan and Hormozgan are strategically important Iranian provinces, hosting major industrial, economic and energy infrastructure. Both areas have repeatedly been affected by military operations during the ongoing confrontation.

The latest phase of the conflict began on February 28, when US and Israeli forces launched large-scale strikes against targets inside Iran.

Iran subsequently responded with repeated waves of missile and drone attacks against US and Israeli-linked military assets across the region.

The confrontation has also placed the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz at the centre of the crisis, with Iran restricting the passage of US and allied vessels.

On June 17, Iran and the United States signed the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in an effort to halt hostilities across multiple fronts.

However, Tehran says the agreement has subsequently been violated by US strikes against several locations in southern Iran.

The latest attacks and Iran’s retaliatory operations have once again raised fears of a wider regional confrontation, with the Strait of Hormuz, Gulf shipping and major energy infrastructure remaining particularly vulnerable to further escalation.

The casualty figures, damage assessments and claims of military losses cited by the opposing sides have not all been independently verified.